The Saint John's University hockey team (8-11-4, 4-8-2 MIAC) closes out its 2009-10 season with a series against St. Olaf (11-8-4, 5-5-4 MIAC) this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20. The Johnnies host the Oles this Friday, Feb. 19, for Senior Night/Youth Hockey Night. The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. All area youth hockey players, and their parents, can gain free admittance if the youngster wears his or her hockey jersey to the game. A free skate will be held with members of the SJU hockey team following the game. SJU will then travel to Northfield for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday at the Northfield Ice Arena. – Listen Live (Both Games) | Live Stats (Friday)
Preview Video:
-Head Coach Doug Schueller (1:42)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's senior Gabriel Harren (Warroad, Minn.) and sophomore Conor Rooney (Stillwater, Minn.) alternated three-point games (2g/1a) as the Johnnies swept Saint Mary's last weekend. SJU has now won 14 of the last 17 meetings with the Cardinals. Freshman Adam Andersson (Pixbo, Sweden) made 18 saves to record his first career shutout in Saturday's 4-0 victory.
SENIOR NIGHT: Six SJU seniors will be playing their final game at the National Hockey Center this Friday night. Forwards Harren, Dylan Decker (Park City, Utah), Karl Gilbert (Hermantown, Minn.), Jake Koehler (Ramsey, Minn.) and Chris Murray (Chanhassen, Minn.) have combined for 332 games played, 60 goals, 83 assists, 143 points, 18 power-play goals, five game-winning goals, six shorthanded goals and a plus/minus of +38. Goaltender Stu Van Ess (Kewaskum, Wis.), meanwhile, has 363 career saves with a .905 save percentage. This group posted a career record of 40-51-9 overall, 25-31-6 in the MIAC, with one MIAC playoff appearance.
A LOOK AT THE OLES: The Oles currently find themselves tied for the fifth and final MIAC Playoff berth after splitting with Augsburg last weekend. Junior Isak Tranvik leads St. Olaf in goals (14), assists (14) and points (28), but does not have a game-winning goal to his credit. Sophomores Britton Smith and Caleb Harrison follow with 23 (13g/10a) and 18 (10g/8a) points, respectively. The goaltending is nearly split between sophomore Ben Leis and junior Nick Krauss. Leis is 5-3-3 with a 2.53 GAA and .916 save percentage in 712 minutes, while Krauss is 6-5-1 with a 2.97 GAA and .899 save percentage in 686 minutes in goal. In MIAC games only, the Oles are last in the conference on the power play (12.1 percent, 8-for-66).
LAST SEASON'S SERIES: The Johnnies lost two, one-goal decisions in the third period to St. Olaf last season. In the teams' first meeting, the Oles scored three unanswered goals in the third period to win, 4-3. STO scored just 1:23 into the game, but SJU answered with three consecutive goals. Rooney collected his first collegiate point with an assist on the third goal. The next night, SJU dropped a 2-1 decision to St. Olaf. Again, STO scored two unanswered goals in the third period to capture the win.
